by Don Mooney
Junior Guard from Nashville Cori Allen drives past Cajun during Tiger win. photo by Altonita Washington
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis women’s basketball secured their second consecutive win on Tuesday night, a wire-to-wire 70-64 result over Louisiana. The Tigers (4-3) were propelled by junior forward Paris Gaines, who posted career highs in points (17), rebounds (12) and offensive rebounds (eight). Chaé Harris added 21 in her fourth 20-point outing of the year.
Behind five long balls from Harris, Memphis made a season-high eight threes. They held the Ragin’ Cajuns to 39.4% shooting, the sixth time in seven games they have prevented opponents from reaching the 40% threshold. Season-best efforts from Bianca Silva and Lily Ba kept the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Women’s Basketball team within striking distance but host-Memphis held on for a 70-64 win on Tuesday, November 25 at Elma Roane Fieldhouse in Memphis, Tennessee.
photo by Altonita Washington
Cajuns Sliva scored a team-leading 19 points, passed out six assists and collected five steals. Ba accounted for 13 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks. The duo combined for 19 points in the first half as Louisiana (0-5) worked its way back from a game-opening 10-0 deficit.
It started in the first quarter with a series of three layups they converted to ignite an 8-0 run that prevented Memphis (4-3) from pulling away, and later a personal five-point run by Ba capped off by a three-pointer at 1:46 had the lead up for grabs at 20-19.
The Tigers countered the second push with the first of several timely answers that protected their lead. An 8-0 run that spilt over into the second quarter opened a 28-19 edge. After Memphis grabbed its first double-digit lead, Silva answered quickly with back-to-back buckets for the start of a 6-0 run that trimmed the deficit to 32-27 at 6:07 in the second quarter. The Tigers’ defense slowed down the Ragin’ Cajuns the rest of the half yielding only one more make and expanding the lead to 41-29.
photo by Altonita Washington
Silva began to stir things up again in the fourth quarter and Memphis’ double-figure edge disappeared for good. She netted a free throw make and layup during the seven-minute mark to make it 55-47 then on the next possession Amijah Price converted a three-point play and the Cajuns drew closer at 55-50 with 6:31 remaining.
The Tigers answered with a three-point play of their own, but Silva didn’t allow them to get comfortable as her steal led to a Price bucket at 5:40 and then a basket of her own at 5:03 sliced the deficit to 58-54.
Jordan Hunter’s three-pointer at 4:45 marked another timely response for the Tigers but UL battled back again narrowing it down to a one-possession game at 63-60 after Ba muscled in for a three-point chance at 2:08.
Coach Simmons mapping out player strategy during timeout. photo by Altonita Washington
The Ragin’ Cajuns got a stop with an Imani Daniel steal only to have an offensive foul swing the momentum back to Memphis. Five straight points from the Tigers followed, finished off with a game-sealing triple from Chaé Harris stretching the lead to 68-60 with 37 seconds remaining.
The loss kept Louisiana in search of their its win of the 2025-26 season. Tuesday’s contest ended a 10-day break for the Ragin’ Cajuns. It was the third in a series of five straight road games that wraps up Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 28-29) at the Big Easy Classic in the Alario Center.
photo by Altonita Washington
INSIDE CAJUN BOX SCORE
Silva’s nine made baskets (9-of-16) tied for the most by makes a Ragin’ Cajun on the young season, matching Mikaylah Manley’s output at Nicholls (Nov. 14). Ba was an efficient 6-of-8 from the floor and was tied with Daniel for the team-lead in rebounds (8). Daniel was the third Cajun in double figures with 15 points knocking down 7-of-10 field goals. She poured in 11 during the second half leading the way as UL outscored Memphis 35-29 after the break.
Louisiana had an assist on 13 of its 28 made field goals, Silva accounting for nearly half the total (6). The Ragin’ Cajuns had more field goal makes (28) than the Tigers (27), but the three-point shot was the difference with Memphis holding an 8-1 advantage from beyond the arc.
UL finished with its most decisive advantage of the season for the points in the paint, outscoring Memphis 48-26 from within.
The Ragin’ Cajuns hit the 40-rebound mark a second straight game finishing right behind the Tigers by one defensive rebound. The 17 offensive rebounds made it five straight games in double digits.